Allergic rhinitis: the impact of discordant perspectives of patient and physician on treatment decisions.

BACKGROUND

A wealth of literature is available that documents the effects of inadequately controlled allergic rhinitis (AR) on patients' daily activities, including impaired sleep, reduced cognitive functioning, and interference with sport and leisure activities. However, despite its high prevalence and significant impact on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and productivity, AR may be undertreated. This might arise, in part, from the low priority given to the disease by physicians.

OBJECTIVE

This article aims to assess the existence of disparities between the attitudes of patients and physicians to AR, and to comment on the impact these disparities may have on treatment choices.

METHODS

A search was conducted of MEDLINE (1990-2006) and data presented at recent congresses (The 25th Congress of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, June 10-14, 2006, Vienna, Austria, and the 62nd Annual American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Meeting, March 3-7, 2006, Miami Beach, Florida) for articles that contained combinations of the terms allergic rhinitis, patient, physician, perspective, attitude, opinion, experience, or burden. Appropriate articles were selected for review in combination with data from a recent Adelphi Group Products (New York, New York) survey.

RESULTS

A study of the impact of seasonal AR on HRQOL found that adolescent patients (n = 83) scored practical problems higher in terms of importance. AR was found to affect the home and social life of > or =33% of patients in a study from the United Kingdom. A European survey of 1494 patients with AR found that nasal congestion was the most common moderate or severe nasal symptom (55%) and that 44% of patients suffered moderate or severe ocular symptoms. A Danish study of adults and adolescents found that AR was undiagnosed in 32% of patients. In a study of 100 physicians in the United States, approximately 30% of physicians under-estimated the severity of AR and its impact on patients' work or school activities. Furthermore, 1 study indicated that approximately 99% of physicians did not issue adequate treatment, although no study was found that directly linked physicians' perspectives of AR and their treatment decisions to date.

CONCLUSIONS

In a review of the existing literature, evidence of disparities between patients' and physicians' perspectives of AR were found, although no studies linked perspectives to prescribing behavior; therefore, research into the impact on treatment decisions might be warranted. In the future, the patient-physician dialogue might be improved by a standardized questionnaire designed to identify the most bothersome symptoms of a patient's disease, so that the most appropriate treatments can be selected to maximize quality of life.